A state appeals court on Thursday upheld the conviction and sentence of a Clintondale man who beat his father to death with a baseball bat in 2014.

Nicholas Pascarella Jr., now 44, was convicted of second-degree murder on Oct. 11, 2016, in Ulster County Court after his first trial, six months earlier, ended with a hung jury. He was sentenced on Dec. 16, 2016, by County Judge Donald A. Williams to 25 years to life in state prison.

Pascarella is serving his sentence at the Green Haven Correctional Facility in southern Dutchess County.

Pascarella killed his father, Nicholas Pascarella Sr., 67, in the driveway of the older man's Marlborough home on Dec. 27, 2014.

On appeal, the younger Pascarella said the jury’s verdict, “rejecting his extreme emotional disturbance defense” was incorrect. The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, Third Judicial Department, disagreed.

Whether to accept that defense “is a matter that rests in the discretion of the jury,” the appeals judges said in a seven-page decision.

At his trials, Pascarella’s defense team never denied he killed the older man but said it was the result of the younger Pascarella suffering from extreme emotional disturbance and a profound loss of self control because his young son said Pascarella Sr. had sexually abused him.

Defense experts testified that Pascarella’s son said “PopPop hurt me,” and that they believed the comments made were indications of sexual abuse, however there was no evidence other than the comment by the boy, who was 4 years old at the time.

Family members denied such abuse took place and instead told Williams that Pascarella Sr. was a funny and loving man who brought joy to the family.

The jury at Pascarella Jr.’s first trial deliberated for more than four days before declaring itself to be at an “absolute deadlock,” prompting Williams to declare a mistrial. The jury at the second trial deliberated for just two hours before reaching its guilty verdict.

Citing conflicting expert opinions about Pascarella’s emotional state offered at trial, the appellate judges wrote in their ruling: “Given the expert testimony offered by defendant, in our view, a contrary result would not have been unreasonable. ... That said, the jury was presented with competing expert opinions as to whether defendant suffered from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and acted under an extreme emotional disturbance, and it was entitled to credit the opinion offered by the People's expert. ... Furthermore, the People submitted evidence demonstrating that defendant exhibited a high degree of self-control, that the attack on the victim was planned and deliberate, and that defendant had a calm demeanor shortly after the attack.”

Regarding Pascarella’s sentence, the appeals court rejected the argument that it was “harsh and excessive.”

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Diane Pineiro-Zucker has been a reporter at the Daily Freeman since April 2013. Pineiro-Zucker worked as a reporter in the Freeman’s Rhinebeck bureau in the early 1980s, left to become executive editor at Taconic Newspapers in Dutchess County.